Chapter 51

Sierra of Dreams (IV)

After a fairly long rest, and what Cain considered a scrumptious feast, the party slowly began their climb once again, easily moving past the snowed-in areas, occasionally running into a tiny Voidspawn that they dispatched quickly.

As he appeared fine and unharmed, Emma, Jamal, and Diya didn't press Cain too hard on 'where' and 'how' he got the items, merely warning him that he should never do it again. Embittered at their distrust, he could only shrug and keep silent, waiting until they run into the Shopkeeper the next time to have one of those 'I told you so' moments.

The frosted climb lasted for three somewhat dull hours before the scenery switched. It was painfully abrupt, so much so that, for a second, everyone except for Cain believed they were tossed back into some sort of an illusion. After all, they went from iced boulders everywhere, to gray, ashen rock carved out into streams by the still flowing lava. The ‘temperature’ skyrocketed, a complete contrast to the trek thus far, and the entire world around them changed.

As they glanced back, they realized that there was a literal cut-off line standing there, like someone couldn't be bothered to blend two different environments in a painting. On one end was the frosted wasteland, and on the other the burning inferno of soot and smoke and burning.

“This... what the hell?” Jamal mumbled, wiping the sweat from his forehead, suddenly wishing he was back in the cold.

“Pretty pleasant, huh?” Cain smiled faintly, stretching. He always felt more affinity toward Fire which was why he felt far more comfortable here than in their previous environment. Oh? A greeting party already? “Everyone, get ready for a fight.” his warning dragged Jamal’s, Emma’s, and Diya’s attention to the front where they saw five beasts crawl out of magma almost at the same time.

They were roughly humanoid-shaped, around six feet tall, though made entirely of magma and fire, with only discernible features being the limbs, the pair of crimson-red eyes, and the three-feet long tail whipping about.

Emma and Jamal stepped upfront, taking out their weapons, while Diya blessed all three immediately, increasing their defenses and stats exponentially. Furthermore, she used Shield of Light on Emma, giving her a shield equivalent to twice her health. The latter immediately broke into a sprint, using Helm of Divinity and Rain of Light in concert; the former buffed her stats further, while the latter created a wide-area rain of golden droplets that decreased the damage taken of everyone in it.

Jamal was on her heels, already charging Mana and converting it into Starlight, his new sword flickering with light. Though it was still mostly milky-white, there were traces of faint golden and silver present, dancing ever so often. As Emma got the monsters' attention, he executed Blade Dash, spinning forward like a spin top and slicing with the sword, appearing like a ghost behind the group of monsters, using Dance of the Stars right after -- he turned into a beam of light, dancing from one monster to another, slashing at them.

The creatures growled and began heaving their weapons about when Emma arrived, using Divine Reckoning and slamming her massive warhammer in the creatures’ midst, tossing them all midair.

Cain observed them from the distance, nodding in approval. Though there were obvious flaws to someone like him, with heaps of experience, for all intents and purposes, they were likely if not the best, then among the best in the Towers at the moment.

He stood by Diya and, instead of attacking, decided to play a supporting role, mostly charging Water and Frost, and occasionally Earth, shielding the two upfront from the strikes they couldn’t evade.

“When do you think is the best time to heal?” he asked Diya, startling her slightly.

“Uh--when... when they’re hurt?” the young woman replied, glancing at him.

“No,” Cain shook his head. “When they’re about to be hurt. Look for timing and practice it. You cut down the frame within which they could potentially die if you heal them as soon as they are hit. Obviously, not much will happen to them against those things even if you leave them alone but think back to when we fought Nightmare. Sometimes, you won't get to see whether they got hurt or not. You have to develop that instinct."

“A-ah, yes!” Diya nodded, absorbing everything he said and shifting her focus back onto the two who were in the heat of the battle.

Emma evaded an overhead strike of a burning hammer, crouching to shift her center of gravity and ripping her warhammer in a half-circle at an upward angle, slamming it into the creature's jaw and tossing it ten feet back. Jamal, on the other hand, was expertly and nimbly evading the stray strikes, having activated Speed Demon, a skill Blademasters got after reaching 200 Agility, increasing his speed beyond the human capacity. Furthermore, he was extremely nimble and made short strides left and right, using the fewest possible movements he could to evade as much as possible.

He would then counterattack, slicing his sword out precisely, but also too carefully, Cain noticed. He appeared too scared to miss, which often meant that he missed the optimal window to attack, and dealt sub-optimal damage. No, those are the points of mastery refinement, Cain stopped himself from saying anything. It will come as his confidence builds. For now... it will work in the Graveyard. Save for two, other bosses rely more heavily on raw strength or speed than skills. As for those two... I guess I can let them have a go to see the general gap and not grow complacent.

Jamal and Emma did a quick work of the five creatures, with Diya assisting from the backline. Though she never quite hit the optimal timing on her heals, she closed the gap decently a few times, which merely proved that she could do it properly in the future -- with experience, of course.

“They drop anything?” Cain asked the obligatory question even though he knew these things dropped nothing.

“Tsk, cheapskates,” Jamal complained, clicking his tongue. “Literally not even a kindle of fire... not even a fuckin’ corpse... it’s like I didn’t even fight...”

“How was it?” Emma asked Cain with an expectant gaze.

“How was what? You? Oh, damn, you looked hot as all hell. Could have been the magma though, still deliberating...” Cain replied, grinning.

“...” she merely sighed, too tired to humor him.

“Why didn’t you help?” Jamal asked, taking out a bottle of water and downing it.

“You guys had it,” Cain said, looking up the mountain. Just before the entrance to the Graveyard... there was one thing he’d have to largely fight himself. Until then, he couldn’t show off too much to that abomination. If anything, it would be perfect if it thought he was a liability. “Though, a bit of constructive criticism: that opener was a blow, dude.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Jamal asked, similarly expectant like Diya to the criticism.

"Why blow your Dash just to close the distance a few seconds faster? You should either use it as means of extending your combo or save it for when you're in a jam. Furthermore, don't spam that Dance thing too much. You could have dealt more damage if you'd just coordinated the rest of your skills with some raw output. Similarly to the Dash, save the Dance for when you're in a jam."

“Oh...” Jamal nodded, withdrawing into his head where he began playing back the battle and incorporating Cain’s suggestions.

“You’re too reckless,” Cain, then, turned to Emma who also stood up firmly, almost like a soldier in front of a general. “Your job wasn’t to show off how well you can dodge and bend that ridiculously hot body of yours--”

“C’!”

"Khm, sorry," Cain chuckled while Emma rolled her eyes. "Your Agility is nowhere near Jamal's, yet you, for some reason, want to compete with him. If you wanna be a two-hander, fine -- but you can't be acting out like you're wielding a dagger. Be grounded, and use the fact that your Class is amazing at prolonged skirmishes to your advantage. Don't be afraid to get hit and hurt -- Diya is right behind you. Give up one hit, and drag three enemies into disadvantageous position -- I know you saw it, but for some reason, you didn't go into it."

“... wow,” Emma sucked in a cold breath, suddenly smiling. “This might be among the top ten times you reamed me, if I’m being honest...”

“... oi,” Cain frowned. “Don’t make me sound like some kind of an animal.”

“But--”

“No more, let’s go,” seeing the mischievous look in her eyes, Cain quickly interrupted Emma and began walking forward. She quickly caught up to him while Jamal and Diya kept their distance from the two.

“I thought guys like it when girls praise their prowess in front of their friends," Emma said with a grin, matching his pace.

"Ah? So you wouldn't mind if I walked up to Jenny and started bragging about how you can cowgirl as well as the best of 'em?"

“...” Emma’s expression dropped as she hit him lightly. “Not as well -- better!”

“That’s what you had a problem with? Holy shit...”

“Ha ha ha,” she laughed freely for a moment, causing his expression to mellow out into a smile. “I missed this, you know?”

“Hm?”

“Maybe not as much as you, considering it’s been over twenty years for you,” she said. “But I missed... us. Just randomly chatting nonsense for hours, never saying anything... I really missed it.”

“What do you mean ‘never saying anything’? If someone were to transcribe our conversations, they could title the book ‘Peace of Mankind’ and end all evil immediately!”

“Or, or, and hear me out here, they would be poor as all shit 'cause nobody would buy it."

“Yeah, probably,” he nodded with a chuckle. “Alright you two, you can stop flirting back there and come join us!” he called out to Diya and Jamal, startling them, while Emma rolled her eyes, looking at him tenderly, with a smile.

“W-w-we weren’t flirting!!” Jamal exclaimed while Diya lowered her head. “You were flirting! You goddamned playboy!!”

“Huh? Yes, of course I was,” Cain nodded with a serious expression. “Doesn’t mean you two didn’t...”

“S-screw you, dude!” Jamal mumbled in a hushed tone, pushing himself into Cain’s face. “The girl’s already hella awkward around me, what the hell are you doing, making it worse?!”

"Oh, wow, you blow that much at flirting?” Cain said. “What, want me to teach you? I give--”

“There’s more ahead,” Emma interrupted. “Quit your yapping and let’s go!”

“... saved by the bell.” Cain grinned.

“Why does everything you say make you sound like an old man?” Jamal fired back, breaking off and running to the front. Diya on the other hand stopped by Cain and kept glancing at him, as though wanting to ask something .

“Do... do... do you really think... we would be... good together? Jamal and I, I mean...” she asked, at last, her cheeks burning red. Cain froze, flabbergasted, stunned, confused, and even slightly scared. Looking at those heavily embarrassed, yet still eager eyes, he could only sigh and smile.

“What’s that got to do with me?” he said, smiling and patting her head. “If you like ‘im, you ask him out. If not, then you find someone you do like. Whatever you choose, I’ll support you!” Why am I acting like a dad to a twenty-two-year-old girl?! I'm not that old, goddammit! Technically, for her, I'm just ten years older!! Just how much wisdom do you think someone can pick up in ten years?!